What Is Recycle Week 2025?
Recycle Week is the Recycle Now campaign's annual flagship event. It's the one week of the year where retailers, brands, waste management companies, trade associations, governments and the media come together to achieve one goal: to galvanise the public into recycling more of the right things, more often.
In 2025, it's scheduled for 22th-28th September, continuing the popular theme “Rescue Me! Recycle.” This friendly campaign brings often-wasted items to life as characters, drawing attention to everyday recyclables, like foil trays, yoghurt pots, and trigger sprays, that frequently end up in the bin.
Why It Matters
Recycling rates in the UK are high, with 88% of households recycling regularly. Yet, confusion still reigns: nearly half of households (49%) aren't sure which items can actually be recycled. This leads to both wish-cycling (putting non-recyclables in the bin hoping they'd be sorted) and missed opportunities, where recyclable items wind up as general waste.
Recycle Week 2025 aims to cut through the confusion, helping people rescue recyclable items instead of throwing them away. By giving them personalities, like “Trigger” the spray bottle or “Fru” the yoghurt pot, the campaign makes recycling relatable and memorable.
How You Can Get Involved
Here are a few ways to join in and make a difference during Recycle Week:
- Download the Campaign Toolkit: The official “Rescue Me! Recycle” toolkit includes social media posts, bin stickers, downloadables, press release templates, and more—all embargoed until 22 September
- Use Social Media: Share your recycling wins and tag them with #RecycleWeek to join the national conversation
- Educate & Advocate: Chat with neighbours, colleagues, or your community group about what really can be recycled. Clear communication helps reduce contamination and improves recycling outcomes
- Involve Schools and Youth Groups: Resources like STEM-based activities or CREST award projects are available to help students explore recycling and waste reduction during Recycle Week
- Engage as a Business or Brand: Sponsoring or partnering with SPAR's Recycle Week can boost your sustainability profile and align you with high-visibility efforts. Just reach out via WRAP's partner enquiries at partnerenquiries@wrap.org.uk
The Impact You Can Make
- Greater recycling clarity means fewer recyclables lost to landfill or incineration.
- Protecting resources and reducing CO₂ emissions - ll through the simple act of recycling right.
- Inspiring long-term behaviour change, not just for one week, but for a lasting culture shift.
Here at Flux, we believe passionately about recycling and reusing as much as possible. From the way we package goods, to the brands we stock. Here are some of our favourite brands that use recycled, eco-friendly or sustainable materials:
- Roka London Bags - Bags, backpacks and accessories, made from recycled materials and designed to be an asset to your every day life.
- Cotopaxi - Sustainable backpacks, bags and luggage that have been created to fight extreme poverty, inspire adventure, and move people to do good. Bags and rucksacks in all shapes, sizes and colours made from recycled fabrics designed for your everyday life.
- Tweedmill - Eco-friendly recycled blankets, designed to lessen the impact on the planet.
- Liga - Sustainable and ethically sourced materials, plus recycled papers and plastics go into Liga's range of beautifully-crafted homewares.
- Cascayde - Recycled Gift Wrap, Ribbon and Tape from Cascayde, a family-run business, based in Scotland, who are all about making it easy for people to embrace low plastic living.
- Vent For Change - Sustainable stationery that aims to protect the planet & supports children’s education projects worldwide.
- Coming Soon! Originalhome - Beautifully-crafted sustainable and eco-friendly lamps and shades that minimize the negative impact on our eco-system. Originalhome solely uses natural, organic, biodegradable, non-toxic and eco-friendly materials and/or materials that would otherwise be considered as waste.
Featuring such recycled-material products during Recycle Week highlights how “waste” can become beautiful, functional design. It’s a real-world reminder that making better choices - even through our purchases - helps drive demand for recycled materials and supports the circular economy.
Recycle Week 2025 is your chance to rescue more recyclables and reduce waste - simple actions with big impacts!
To find out more, go to WRAP's website and see what difference you can make.